Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 S27FG60 27-inch 500 Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor review: Phenomenal performance and color
SOURCE:Tom's Hardware|BY: Christian Eberle
Samsung brings maximum performance to one of its most colorful monitors with the Odyssey OLED G6 S27FG60. It’s a 27-inch QD-OLED with 500 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR True Black 500, HDR10, HDR10+ and wide gamut color.
The Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 S27FG60 is about as close to perfect as a gaming monitor can get. It delivers phenomenal contrast, color and gaming performance, and gets work done too. It embodies the mantra, “you never regret buying the best.”
Pros
Bright, sharp and colorful image with deep blacks and contrast
Accurate color out of the box, no calibration needed
Precise adjustments let you tweak both SDR and HDR content
Premium video processing delivers smooth motion and low input lag
Slick look with metal finishes and solid build quality+
Cons
-
No internal speakers
-
No variable brightness for SDR
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In most of my monitor reviews, I discuss how displays of the same type compare. A group will be all the same size, resolution, refresh rate, etc. But sometimes it’s intriguing to take the “what you get for the money” perspective. Recently, I reviewed Samsung’s S40FG75, a 40-inch ultra-wide VA panel with a 1000R curve. It’s extreme in every respect and costs around $750.
So why would you pay $850 for a 27-inch flat QHD screen? Because it’s a QD-OLED, and it runs at 500 Hz, that’s why. I’m talking about another new Samsung, the Odyssey OLED G6 S27FG60. It’s a serious gaming tool that will appeal to pro gamers and anyone who can’t do without the image quality found on the best OLED gaming monitors. Let’s take a look.
The 500 Hz OLED category is one for flagship displays, and the S27FG60 more than qualifies. Its QHD 2760x1440 resolution is all about frame rates, and if you have a stout enough video card, think GeForce RTX 4090 at least, you can run over 400 frames per second (fps) with game detail maxed in HDR mode. And motion blur is nonexistent. Of course, that’s true for any OLED running faster than 200 Hz, but 500 Hz also offers extremely low input lag. Is the S27FG60 the fastest monitor you can buy? You’ll have to keep reading to find out.
Frame rates are the focus here, but Samsung has paid equal attention to image quality. The S27FG60 is a Quantum Dot panel, meaning it can cover more than 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. My sample measured an impressive 107.76% which means you get deeper and more saturated color than monitors without a QD layer. That color is accurate too; almost perfect right out of the box, with no calibration needed.
HDR10 and HDR10+ formats; Samsung strongly supports the latter and has the advantage of dynamic tone mapping built into the content metadata. That means the display doesn’t have the burden of fitting a fixed tone map, like that found in HDR10, to the varying conditions of the display. HDR10+ is much like Dolby Vision in this regard. That said, the S27FG60 includes dynamic tone mapping for HDR10 that is very effective.
Physical features include USB ports plus HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 inputs. There are no internal speakers, but you do get a nice LED ring around the fulcrum in the back that glows with different colors and effects. Aiming points are the only play aid; there are no timers, frame counters, or sniper modes.
Build quality is first-rate and more than befitting a flagship display. The backing is metal, and you get advanced cooling for the OLED panel with graphene and heat pipes keeping things calm. There are also care options like logo dimming and panel refresh. Samsung backs the S27FG60 with a three-year warranty that includes burn-in coverage.
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So, do you go with a jumbo extreme curved monitor like the S40FG75? Or would you rather enjoy the incredible performance and image quality of a smaller flat screen like the S27FG60? The price differences are small, but the physical aspects and user experience couldn’t be more diverse.
Assembly and Accessories
The S27FG60 is secured in crumbly foam and comes in a plain carton with no announcement of the exotic display lurking inside. The three main components snap together, no tools needed. There’s an external power supply with right-angle plugs, and you get DisplayPort, USB, and HDMI cables.
Product 360
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The S27FG60 presents a silver metal finish offset by the black screen and flush bezel. It’s narrow enough not to be noticed when the power is on. Only a tiny “Samsung” peeks out from underneath on a small protrusion. The panel’s metal backing curls around the front like an iPhone's border and lends a bit of posh to the aesthetic.
The stand is rooted with a heavy metal plate. The upright is solid with firm movements that include 2/25 degrees tilt, 30 degrees swivel and 4.7 inches of height. You also get a 90-degree portrait mode. The fulcrum is where you’ll find the LED light ring. It glows in every color and includes effects that you can dial up in the OSD. Samsung calls it Infinity Core.
Around back, you can see a large metal piece with a plastic insert at the bottom. It has a convenient input panel that faces backwards. On one side is the OSD joystick, followed by USB 3.2 ports, one up and two down, a 3.5mm headphone jack, two HDMI 2.1s and a DisplayPort 1.4. To manage the wiring, there’s a rubber band on the upright.
OSD Features
The S27FG60 includes a game-focused OSD with a dashboard look that includes signal and status info at the top. There are five submenus, all logically laid out. Everything is controlled by a tiny joystick that is very easy to use.
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In the game menu you get a set of aiming points, an Adaptive-Sync toggle, black equalizer to brighten shadow detail and the Infinity Core Lighting options. They include static colors or effects. You can also sync the light show with on-screen action by running Samsung Display Manager and making a USB connection.
The Picture menu has many options, including the 10 image modes. The default is Eco and unlike most displays, this one doesn’t limit brightness. You can have full output, which is 322 nits for SDR and 527 nits for HDR, more on that later. Variable brightness is only available in HDR mode under the Peak Brightness heading. But you can turn on a dynamic contrast control called Contrast Enhancer, for SDR content.
For tweakers, there are fixed color temps plus a single point white balance control. Five gamma presets and a color gamut selector round out the options. To get sRGB color for SDR content, choose Auto. To see the full 108% of DCI-P3 that the S27FG60 covers, choose Native.
To ensure long panel life, the S27FG60 has a graphene layer behind the OLED and a heat pipe design that keeps temps in check with no need for internal fans. The metal backing helps dissipate heat too. And you get logo dimming along with a panel refresh routine. I noted that the panel ran the refresh automatically when I turned it on for the first time. This ensures optimal field uniformity, which you’ll see later is exemplary.
The S27FG60 doesn’t require calibration in its default Eco picture mode, but I went for it anyway and saw a tiny improvement in color saturation. White balance is already visually perfect but a few tweaks of the RGB sliders make it even more perfect. I also darkened gamma by one click to deepen the image and make textures more tactile. My SDR settings are below.
For HDR signals, the S27FG60 switches itself automatically. You can still calibrate, but there’s no need. That opens up the variable brightness option, which Samsung confusingly calls Peak Brightness. Set this to High for excellent luminance tracking and color accuracy.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Picture Mode
Eco
Brightness 200 nits
29
Brightness 120 nits
12
Brightness 100 nits
8
Brightness 80 nits
4 (min. 61 nits)
Contrast
50
Gamma
-1
Color Temp User
Red -4, Green -2, Blue 4
Gaming and Hands-on
I started this review with a thought about what you can get in a gaming monitor for $750 versus $850. $750 buys you the S40FG75 40-inch curved jumbo screen. It’s immersive in a way that a flat panel like the S27FG60 just can’t be. But oh, that OLED picture! An OLED running at 420fps in HDR mode has no equal, of any size or shape. The smoothness and quickness translate clearly into better gameplay, especially when fast action is on the menu.
I’ve said many times that high refresh OLEDs are precise. When you turn and shoot, you are more likely to hit the target when playing on a 240 Hz or faster OLED. You’ll read my findings on just how quick the S27FG60 is on the next page, but numbers aside, it’s quick. It’s clear since I always play the same games when a monitor enhances my abilities. I move through levels faster and dispatch enemies more easily. The S27FG60 kept up with my every whim and almost anticipated my changes in direction. If you’re bent on competition, this is a serious weapon that professional and casual gamers alike will want for their toolkit.
Image quality was superb from the get-go. Though I always calibrate if the options are there, the S27FG60 doesn’t need any help to look amazing. Color is spot-on, and the only tweak I felt I needed was to reduce gamma one click for SDR content. This added in a bit of texture and saturated color a tad more. It’s subtle but worth doing.
For work tasks, the S27FG60 serves perfectly as a tool for spreadsheets, word processing and web browsing. The image is not fatiguing at all. I noted that variable brightness, called Peak Brightness here, was not available for SDR content but was turned on effectively in HDR mode. For productivity, this is fine, but I would have liked the option to vary the peak white levels for video. I noted that setting Color Space to Auto in SDR mode rendered a perfect sRGB gamut, which was handy for Photoshop and other graphics tasks.
The S27FG60’s build quality is premium all the way with a look and feel befitting its flagship status and price tag. I appreciated the USB ports and back-facing inputs. There were no internal speakers to judge but a pair of cans plugged into the 3.5mm headphone jack provided decent audio.
Takeaway: The S27FG60 looks amazing even when turned off and delivers an image you’ll become addicted to. It isn’t much different than any other premium OLED in that regard but when you throw in its speedy, responsive and precise gaming performance, it’s a monitor with few equals. You can save $100 and get a 40-inch curved ultra-wide but then you’d give up that stunning image and super-fast frame rate.
Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.
